Possibilities and challenges have emerged from the cooldown in our real estate market.  

The recent cooldown is bringing opportunity for buyers including greater choice and less competition from rival bidders.  

We’re seeing growing inventory in this market, which means that buyers no longer have to make a decision in 15 minutes on whether to buy a home or not and have that fear of missing out on an opportunity.

The easing of that supply shortage, coupled with rising interest rates and fewer buyers, has resulted in fewer bidding wars, more reasonable purchase amounts and the opportunity for Canadians to make a more rational decision on buying a home.

So I think having a more balanced market, as we’re seeing today, is certainly more suitable for accommodating our industry and our clients. 

Opportunities, challenges for first-time buyers

Indeed, the cooldown may be long overdue for a segment of the market that’s faced a steep uphill climb to purchase a property over the past couple of years: first-time buyers, who’ve found themselves frequently squeezed out due to affordability challenges and intensive competition.

New entrants to the market who have solid income, employment and can afford a down payment will be well positioned in the current environment.  

If you or anyone you know have questions about the market, or are interested in buying or selling, please reach out to us as we are never too busy to help.  

Living in a condominium can seem like a pretty sweet deal. In exchange for your monthly condo fees, all your maintenance tasks are taken care of. Right? Well, while you might not be on the hook for things like shovelling snow or cleaning the building’s pool, there are still some maintenance tasks you can’t forget. Have you overlooked any of these?

Check your dishwasher supply hose. One thing people often forget about living in a condo is that if there’s water damage in your own unit, it’s likely going to damage other units beside or underneath you. A leaking dishwasher is a common cause of this. Make sure you check your dishwasher supply hose (usually located under the sink) seasonally to ensure it’s in good repair and there are no portions that look weakened or torn.

Clean your lint traps—all of them. Many people know not to run a load in the dryer without cleaning the lint trap in the machine. But a surprising amount of people don’t. Not only should it be cleaned every time you put a load in, but many condominium units are designed to have two lint traps, one often in the ceiling of your laundry room or closet. This is to act as a backup, in case the first trap doesn’t collect all of it, so the secondary trap shouldn’t need cleaning every time. It should, however, still be checked monthly.

Clean the windows you can reach. Most condo corporations will hire a professional window cleaning company to clean the building’s windows twice a year. The catch? They will often only clean windows that are inaccessible to residents. That means windows that are part of the facades and can’t be reached by unit owners. So any windows you can safely reach by standing on your balcony may be your responsibility to tackle.

The Latest May 2022 Market stats are out and available for download. 

Greater Vancouver Market Speedo HERE

Metro Vancouver Market Speedo HERE

Fraser Valley Market Speedo HERE

Detached Monthly Variances HERE

Attached Monthly Variances HERE

Download the Complete Report HERE